John Crow Batty

Gawn was generally good bar those few critical errors. It’s obvious to me why opposition players give him taps on the head in marking situations. Most of the uncontested marks he spills it’s like he’s expecting a whack and it unsettles him. He is one of the best marks in the comp and the opposition try to make him pay at every attempt.

I’m not prepared to throw in the towel yet. Adelaide were s**t hot on Saturday. We played well except for lapses when comfortably in front. We and they never gave up. They got lucky in the end and we were not smart enough to close the game down. What irks me though is that most losing opposition side don’t seem to throw in the towel when playing us. They know we don’t have a killer instinct and always think they have a chance. We needs a step up in ruthlessness and intimidate.

Michael Gleeson in The Age wrote this today. I hope we haven’t flatlined. Next week a character defining day. “Between the arcs Melbourne were dominant in the first six weeks, top four in a range of statistics in this critical real estate on the ground: third for uncontested marks, second for contested possessions, fifth for tackles. In the last month they have fallen away between the arcs to be bottom four in the important categories”.

Three strikes and he’s out. I was expecting him to come back firing but his two games have been tepid and Mitch Brown has shown more in his sole outing as well in career comparisons.

The message would have got out to the players after the Taylor goal. 1 minute left. On the third ruck contest it was a matter of seconds left.

When defending ruckmen were allowed to rush behinds from ball ups close to goal they used to do it all the time. It was relatively easy. That’s why they changed the rules.

We had a much better chance of forcing a draw or chance of snatching the win with a fluke goal and maintained our top position if Gawn tried to punch the ball towards the goals.Too often I bemoan the lack of creative ruck play from Max as well as strategic thinking. He could have got 2 players to position goal side and thump the ball in that direction. We had little chance of him 3 times dropping the ball non goal side at his feet in manic congestion to win a decisive clearance for a shot at goal. Quick thinking and basic math nous could have saved us. A draw would have been as good as a win.

I get the impression umpires are like professional wrestling performers in these kind of games. Play the “heel” early to get all the boos and hate then switch over to become the “face” at the end to gain the platitudes and cheers. Must make them feel good.

A point and draw would have been like a win given our ladder position.

I thought we got the better of the umpiring early but I had a niggling feeling it will go against us late in the game if scores are close and become victims of home crowd decisions later in the game. The same happened in 2019 when we got some shocking decisions against us in the last quarter against WC in Perth. This year it’s become a big problem for away teams in close finishes and vocal crowds. The umpires need some form of re-education.

From a strategic POV, we could have gone for the rushed point at the end. There were 3 ball ups. A draw would have kept us on top and we are likely never to match the Bulldogs on percentage anyway. A draw on when one game ahead on top is like a win.

Spare parts Mitch Brown actually offers more as he leads, can clunk marks and kick goals from distance which Weid can’t.

ATM the bulldogs are seriously dismantling a crappy side. The problem with captain challenges is that all will likely be burned up early in the game unless an unlimited amount are given. There are far too many iffy moments at contests around the goals.

Weid - spray with Roundup

We will never know if are the real deal until we see how we respond to a disappointing loss. If we can’t respond in the next couple of weeks we ain’t the deal.

Weid touch free last quarter. Mistake in hindsight dropping BBB.

He deserves brownie points for getting under Richmonds skin. He also played arguably his best game for the Lions.

I like Mathieson better now for getting under Richmonds skin the way he did.

My wife always refers to Adelaide as the city of bad hair. Mullets may have a resurgence now but they never went out of fashion over there. Only positive is they have pretty pubs and good vino.

Shocking to hear, he is regarded as some sort of clap happy evangelical leader by the Collingwood faithful.

It’s like buying a slab of beer for $50 today, $80 next week and $15 the week after.

Precious metals have held their value for thousands of years, crypto has been around one decade.In countries where fiat currency has been reduced to the value of toilet paper due to wars, mismanagement and other catastrophes gold and silver are still king. We are lucky Australia hasn’t been one of them. But who knows what the future holds.

Tell that to people from war torn countries where having gold was the only ticket to escape or avoid starvation.

My computer geek around 2010 wanted me to invest $500 into a new fangled thing called Bitcoin like he was doing. They were selling for around 3 cents each then. I knocked back the offer because I was grinding out money playing poker which in the long run worked out to about $5 an hour. In hindsight Bitcoin were a good idea then but now too volatile to contemplate. Just a speculative asset.

Whilst we are doing very well I will be happy if they don’t mess with the rules for now. Might scupper our mojo.